Cigarettes out of sight in Canadian stores

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Every Breaking Wave

Every Breaking Wave

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Reuters said:
You can browse the latest porn magazines at Canadian shops, but tough new laws mean that cigarette packages are simply too suggestive.

Shop owners in Ontario, Quebec and a few other provinces must now hide tobacco products from their customers under rules that will cover most of Canada by year-end as the country tries to stamp out smoking by young people.

The provincial governments want to discourage the habit by "de-normalizing" the presence of cigarettes, which typically enjoyed prime placement behind the cash register.

Retailers must store cigarettes in drawers or behind grey wall coverings that cost as much as C$1,000 ($980), leaving some fuming over the cost, inconvenience, and hypocrisy.

"It's a pain in the ass, and a double-standard that the government supports liquor sales," said a Toronto shop owner who did not want to be named, but who noted children too young to buy pornography are still free to eye the plastic-covered magazines, which are only partly hidden by their shelving.

"It's kind of like a nanny state."

The law has its critics, including those who point accusingly at Ontario's provincially owned liquor stores. But advocates say the seemingly draconian measure will eventually work, and is too important to get bogged down by morality.

"Pornography, with all its faults and deficits, won't kill you," said Michael Perley, director of the Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco, an anti-smoking lobby group. "Tobacco industry products kill one in two of their long-term users."

Perley's group, backed by national cancer and medical associations, complains that the cigarette industry paid retailers to display their colorful products in prominent positions in retail stores.

The latest move puts Canada, which already bans cigarette advertising and sports sponsorships by tobacco companies, among a small group of countries which hides tobacco products at the cash register.

Iceland was first in 2001 and Thailand followed in 2005, while Ireland is moving in the same direction.

Canadian retailers complain the law will confuse customers and sellers, and stifle sales of their top product.

But the provinces, which are responsible for managing Canada's publicly funded healthcare system, say they are trying to curb the country's No. 1 cause of early death, cancer.

Canada's explicit health warnings on tobacco products, including graphic images of blackened lungs and rotten teeth, are already considered among the world's most direct.

"It doesn't take long to de-normalize social psychology," said Toronto cigarette-smoker Karolina Jonsson. "People underestimate just how much advertising we are exposed to every day, and cigarettes are the same."
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This law came into effect on June 1.
 
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Man...must suck to be a smoker in Canada right about now. I wish the US would put something like this into place, though.
 
I agree with both of you. I feel good that people are noticing a problem, and are actually doing something about it.
 
Agreed. Though it'll be an annoyance to smokers, it's for everyone's good in the long run.

I'm hoping smoking becomes absolete some day. >> Shh, I can dream~
 
QuietDragon said:
Agreed. Though it'll be an annoyance to smokers, it's for everyone's good in the long run.

I'm hoping smoking becomes absolete some day. >> Shh, I can dream~
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Thirded. I'm not sure why they ban cocaine yet allow smoking, both of these need to be made illegal really.
 
There's no reason for any store owners to be "fuming over the cost", since they had plenty of warning. Word first got out about this almost a year ago, IIRC.
 
I don't see why drugs such as Marijuana and Cocaine, which do damage only to yourself, are illegal, while cigarettes, which damage you and those around you, are still legal. I'm not saying these drugs should be legal, of course, but the government needs to get its priorities straight.
 
I work at a convenience store, and it's actually quite funny. Quite a few people come in to the store with the intent to buy other things with the cigarettes, and then forget to ask for the cigarettes entirely now (it happened before, but it's becoming much more commonplace now already). All the non-smokers are cautiously optimistic that it will work, while the smokers complain that it's a waste of time and money, :p

From the seller' standpoint, it's not too much more difficult. We can't stock the cigarettes while customers are in the store anymore, so we often find ourselves running out of cigarettes on the counter, meaning smokers have to either get a different brand (sold out too), or go without. I can only say HA! It's not too difficult to find the now covered brands though, it's just simple memorization.

It's never made sense to me. If you were to tell someone to inhale hot ash from a campfire, they'd tell you that you're out of your mind. Yet they willingly do that when they smoke. :S
 
Matkin22 said:
Quite a few people come in to the store with the intent to buy other things with the cigarettes, and then forget to ask for the cigarettes entirely now (it happened before, but it's becoming much more commonplace now already).
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Been happening forever at our store and we haven't even covered up most of the cigarettes yet.

Matkin22 said:
We can't stock the cigarettes while customers are in the store anymore
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News to me. And that wouldn't work in our store since it's open 24 hours and quite busy.
 
It could just be a variation store-to-store then, if you can stock with customers in there. It might even be a policy difference between the companies. I'm surprised that not all of your curtains are up yet though, since the law is already in effect.
 
No, I'm pretty sure it was June 1st. That's what my boss told me, what I saw in the paper, and what I heard on the radio.
 
article said:
"Pornography, with all its faults and deficits, won't kill you," said Michael Perley, director of the Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco, an anti-smoking lobby group. "Tobacco industry products kill one in two of their long-term users."
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Good! I'm glad that they'll be hiding those damn cancer sticks out of sight. It makes me sick everytime I go to the store that my mom works at and when I wait for her to get out of work I see these young girls come out on break. First shot, cell phone and a cigarette. Smoking is disgusting! I had one cigarette in my whole life and I thought it was so terrible that I'll never do it again.
 
How about hiding the alcohol next? Nobody crashes into people and kills them while driving with a cigarette.
 
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